58,762 research outputs found
From Localities via the spatial turn to spatial-temporal fixes: a strategic relational odyssey.
'Requisite irony' and the knowledge based economy: a critical discourse analysis of the drafting of education policy in the european union
This chapter makes a case for combining the critical analysis of discourse with an embrace of ‘self-reflexive irony’ (Jessop, 2002, 2004a) in the investigation of the articulations between the Knowledge Based Economy (KBE) and education policy in the European Union (EU). Irony is embraced as a topic within the study of EU governance of education policy in so far as it contributes to an analysis of the activities of supranational and national actors within complex multi-scalar political structures. In addition, the implications of self-reflexive irony are considered so as to suggest a series of clarifications for the process of analysing policy texts within a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework (Fairclough,1989,1996,1999). In essence, the chapter does two things. It interrogates the contradictory strategies and sources of conflict in the production of EU scale education policy texts and questions both the significance and the stability of the articulation of education reform with KBE discourses. At the same time, the chapter argues that the production of such texts contingently but incrementally contributes to the production of a relatively stable governance framework for EU scale education policy and that it is to the significance of this that a critical discourse analysis leads
Measurement of the ratio of prompt χ c to J / ψ production in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV
The prompt production of charmonium χ c and J / ψ states is studied in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV at the Large Hadron Collider. The χ c and J / ψ mesons are identified through their decays χ c → J / ψ γ and J / ψ → μ + μ - using 36 pb - 1 of data collected by the LHCb detector in 2010. The ratio of the prompt production cross-sections for χ c and J / ψ, σ (χ c → J / ψ γ) / σ (J / ψ), is determined as a function of the J / ψ transverse momentum in the range 2 < p T J / ψ < 15 GeV / c. The results are in excellent agreement with next-to-leading order non-relativistic expectations and show a significant discrepancy compared with the colour singlet model prediction at leading order, especially in the low p T J / ψ region
Life History of American Eels from Western Newfoundland
Biological data are limited for American eels Anguilla rostrata from the northern portion of the species' geographic range. The biological characteristics of American eels from two sites in western Newfoundland varied by sex, maturation stage, and habitat. Female and male sexually mature (silver) eels from the Castors River were comparable in length range with eels reported from other Newfoundland sites. Female silver eels from the Castors River began their spawning migration at a lower developmental stage for the gonadosomatic index, eye index, and pectoral fin length index than did eels from more southerly sites in eastern Canada and the United States. Annual growth rate declined with increasing age (r = −0.93, P < 0.001). The growth rate at a given age was higher for eels from Muddy Hole (an estuarine habitat at the mouth of Flat Bay Brook) than for those from the Castors River (a freshwater habitat) primarily because growth rate decreased with an increasing proportion of residence in freshwater (r = −0.74, P < 0.001). Most eels (64-72%) from both sites had a history of occasional migration between and residence of variable duration in both freshwater and saline water, as determined from otolith strontium: Calcium analysis. The mean growth rate of eels that had resided primarily in estuarine waters was 3.2 times greater than the growth of eels that had resided only in freshwater. Additional studies are required to clarify the life history and distributional relations of northern populations of American eels
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
Ophthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Convective–reactive nucleosynthesis of K, Sc, Cl and p-process isotopes in O–C shell mergers
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. We address the deficiency of odd-Z elements P, Cl, K and Sc in Galactic chemical evolution models through an investigation of the nucleosynthesis of interacting convective O and C shells in massive stars. 3D hydrodynamic simulations of O-shell convection with moderate C-ingestion rates show no dramatic deviation from spherical symmetry. We derive a spherically averaged diffusion coefficient for 1D nucleosynthesis simulations, which show that such convective-reactive ingestion events can be a production site for P, Cl, K and Sc. An entrainment rate of 10-3M⊙s-1features overproduction factors OPs≈ 7. Full O-C shell mergers in our 1D stellar evolution massive star models have overproduction factors OPm> 1 dex but for such cases 3D hydrodynamic simulations suggest deviations from spherical symmetry. γ - process species can be produced with overproduction factors of OPm> 1 dex, for example, for130, 132Ba. Using the uncertain prediction of the 15M⊙, Z = 0.02 massive star model (OPm≈ 15) as representative for merger or entrainment convective-reactive events involving O- and C-burning shells, and assume that such events occur in more than 50 per cent of all stars, our chemical evolution models reproduce the observed Galactic trends of the odd-Z elements
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Acute Ethanol Administration Rapidly Increases Phosphorylation of Conventional Protein Kinase C in Specific Mammalian Brain Regions in Vivo
Background
Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of isoenzymes that regulate a variety of functions in the central nervous system including neurotransmitter release, ion channel activity, and cell differentiation. Growing evidence suggests that specific isoforms of PKC influence a variety of behavioral, biochemical, and physiological effects of ethanol in mammals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether acute ethanol exposure alters phosphorylation of conventional PKC isoforms at a threonine 674 (p-cPKC) site in the hydrophobic domain of the kinase, which is required for its catalytic activity.
Methods
Male rats were administered a dose range of ethanol (0, 0.5, 1, or 2 g/kg, intragastric) and brain tissue was removed 10 minutes later for evaluation of changes in p-cPKC expression using immunohistochemistry and Western blot methods.
Results
Immunohistochemical data show that the highest dose of ethanol (2 g/kg) rapidly increases p-cPKC immunoreactivity specifically in the nucleus accumbens (core and shell), lateral septum, and hippocampus (CA3 and dentate gyrus). Western blot analysis further showed that ethanol (2 g/kg) increased p-cPKC expression in the P2 membrane fraction of tissue from the nucleus accumbens and hippocampus. Although p-cPKC was expressed in numerous other brain regions, including the caudate nucleus, amygdala, and cortex, no changes were observed in response to acute ethanol. Total PKC? immunoreactivity was surveyed throughout the brain and showed no change following acute ethanol injection
Regulation Theories in Retrospect and Prospect.
This chapter critically assesses the regulation approach to the critique of political economy. It starts with the theoretical background to regulation theories; moves on to compare the main approaches and their various fields of application; and then offers some methodological and epistemological criticisms of the leading schools. Then come some more general methodological remarks on the object and subject of regulation and some specific comments on one of the weakest areas of regulation theory - its account of the state. Thus this chapter focuses on methodology and general theory rather than empirical analysis
Temperature-driven global sea-level variability in the Common Era
We assess the relationship between temperature and global sea-level (GSL) variability over the Common Era through a statistical metaanalysis of proxy relative sea-level reconstructions and tide-gauge data. GSL rose at 0.1 ± 0.1 mm/y (2σ) over 0–700 CE. A GSL fall of 0.2 ± 0.2 mm/y over 1000–1400 CE is associated with ∼0.2 °C global mean cooling. A significant GSL acceleration began in the 19th century and yielded a 20th century rise that is extremely likely (probability P≥0.95) faster than during any of the previous 27 centuries. A semiempirical model calibrated against the GSL reconstruction indicates that, in the absence of anthropogenic climate change, it is extremely likely (P=0.95) that 20th century GSL would have risen by less than 51% of the observed 13.8±1.5 cm. The new semiempirical model largely reconciles previous differences between semiempirical 21st century GSL projections and the process model-based projections summarized in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report.This article is available Open Access at the Link to published version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.emospa.2016.02.006Also available as related resources: Supporting Information (PDF), Dataset S1 (PDF), Dataset S2 (Excel), Dataset S3 (Excel).Peer reviewe
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